This dissertation studies on the ‘Chosun cinema’ into which new characteristics were about to develop at the initial stage of Korean nation-state focused on the following three texts; An Chul-young, his two works of The Rose of Sharon[Mugungwha](1...
This dissertation studies on the ‘Chosun cinema’ into which new characteristics were about to develop at the initial stage of Korean nation-state focused on the following three texts; An Chul-young, his two works of The Rose of Sharon[Mugungwha](1948) and Trip to Hollywood[Sunglimkihaeng](1949). It defines the time of national emancipation as superimposed period, where Korea should enter the order of Cold War in the shadow of the States(the U.S. Military Government) as it was concurrently going through the post-colonial period struggling to clear away the remnants of Japanese colonialism. Considering that, this dissertation tries to examine how filmmakers and 'Chosun/Korean cinema' apprehended the phase of the times when they should recognize the world in their own way to undertake the task of establishing Korean nation-state. For this purpose, it depends on the interdisciplinary and microscopic approach of the Korean film history studies in a transnational viewpoint.
Although short, the time of emancipation was a condensed space of modernization where capitalism and socialism, tradition and modernity, and colonialism and post-colonialism competed each other, and also it was the time of attraction with its hope for the unstable future of independent nation-state soon to be registered on the world stage. These three texts are exclusive and distinctive knots in Korean film history which offer the special opportunity to understand it. Since they were grounded on this particularly attractive time and space, they prove themselves as the most proper texts for studying this era. The Rose of Sharon, the film version of Hawaiian part of Trip to Hollywood, was one of the many other non-fiction films -culture film, documentary, and newsreels- which were major products of film industry during that period. However, it was different from other non-fiction films which were mainly governmental. It was non-governmental sponsored by Korean National Association after An's trip to America supported by the U.S. Military Government(U.S.M.G.). Furthermore, it is not only a Chosun Pungmulsi(landscape poetry concerning customs and landscape nourished by the traditional Chosun travel essay but also contains the tradition of western travelogues, as well as the politics and the Enlightenment of culture films in Imperialist period. Plus, it is a kind of reversed Gwangwang- youngwha(travel film) which introduces 1st world to the mother land, which is the 3rd world. Trip to Hollywood, written by An Cheolyoung the administrative officer of the interim government with the support of U.S.M.G., was actually the outcome of Americanization strategy through personal exchange one of the Cultural Cold War policies of the States after World War II. The importance of Trip to Hollywood, however, lies in the fact that it was regarded as a valued textbook for the people in film and art of those times craving for the knowledge about films as it provided detailed information about film industry of the States and Japan.
Adding to that, the reason why we should pay attention to An Cheolyoung is as below. First of all, he was the specialist in film who had experienced German film industry for the first time in Chosun. Secondly, he entered the film industry of colonial Chosun without training as an apprentice and coterie system. Thirdly, he was the art section chief of the Culture and Education Department of U.S.M.G. and interim government as middle-grounder taken neither by right nor left wing. Fourthly, he was a sort of pathfinder who played important role not only as a filmmaker and film technician but also as a film administrator. Lastly, he made the first color film The Rose of Sharon, which was also marked as first overseas travelogue / Gwangwang- youngwha(travel film) / Pungmulsi(landscape poetry), and at the same time he wrote Trip to Hollywood, which was the inspection travel essay about Hollywood. These so many 'firsts' about him are surely enough to be noticed, but more important thing is that these texts give us a chance to grasp the relationship between the Republic of Korea and the ‘Chosun cinema’ as examining the context and conditions why these texts had emerged in this time of emancipation under the rule of U.S.M.G right before the establishment of Korean nation-state. Surely, The Rose of Sharon and Trip to Hollywood are multi-layered texts that spread out to various directions, but they converge into An Cheolyoung, who himself is considered to be the text to be examined.
On one level, The Rose of Sharon was Chosun's first color film tried to introduce Chosun people residing in Hawaii and as a first overseas travelogue / Gwangwang-youngwha(travel film) / Pungmulsi(landscape poetry) it functioned to establish the identity of the Republic of Korea. Trip to Hollywood had the nationalist purpose of having Chosun film industry follow the template of American film industry as many other travelogues by Korean cultural inspectors to the States contained at that time. Under the surface, however, there remained fissures and residues formed in and outside of representation. Therefore, this dissertation firstly tries to reveal the mutual assistance between the political condition(the hegemony) and the media discourse(the films) in the initial period of the Republic of Korea when Korean government faced the need to decolonize itself and establish the nation-state as well as call the people as the nation at the same time. Then it will enunciate how imperfect these strategies were under the specific context structured around An Cheolyoung. The Rose of Sharon presents Hawaii as future utopia for Korea, but we should remember that it was made by the support of Korean National Association, whose relationship with the Rhee Syngman government was a hostile one as they longed for a unified Korean government. So the film focused on describing activities of overseas Koreans in Hawaii rather than it served to approve the legitimacy of separate government in South Korea.
And also Trip to Hollywood is not to worship the American film industry and make it as the standard for Korean film, but to call Koreans in the North America as the national community and reinforce the nationalism, is what can be inferred from the essays written by An. At the same time, it aims to be the textbook about film to map the relationship between ‘Chosun cinema’ and the Korean nation-state, and ‘Chosun cinema’ and world cinema(which is American cinema) as An pictured.
An Chulyoung emphasized the role of non-fiction film in the establishment of a state, and the necessity of national support to build the scientific technology system for film. In addition, his aspiration to grasp the tendency of world cinema, represented as American cinema, had a lot to do with the future of ‘Chosun cinema’. He ceaselessly sought to open the door for ‘Chosun cinema’ toward world cinema. It is important to consider his family history to comprehend such an attitude. He was the family member of Minister An Changho and Kim Ho, who were in the national liberation resistance and also the political opponents of Rhee Syngman. It is critical to take this into consideration in a sense that it was political situation which was prevailing among all the other social aspects at that particular time period. Therefore, An's position toward ‘Chosun cinema’ and Korea can be defined as a middle-grounded cultural nationalist.